Firefighter shocked by downed line: ‘I died and those guys were able to save me’
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Previous coverage: Power company quickly takes responsibility for near fatal error
Benton County, Washington Volunteer Firefighter Ty Schoenwald told a reporter today, “I died, but I’m not dead.” Last week, after two power company workers assured firefighters that a downed power line was no longer live Schoenwald went to work on a brush fire with an extinguisher. It was then that 2700 volts went through Schoenwald’s body and put his heart into v-fib.
And when water came in contact with it, the surge shot back to Ty and his fire extinguisher.
“I got rid of the can and my next thought was, ‘I don’t want to be here,’ so I rolled out a couple of times – that’s where I don’t have any memory,” he says.
The electricity entered through his right hand, shocking his heart. It went back out his left. His hands are still healing from the burns.
Fighting a ticking clock, fellow firefighters stepped in and performed CPR. A defibrillator shocked his fluttering heart and got blood pumping again.
“The fact that these guys were able to do what they did, so quickly, valiantly, where they didn’t even think, it was just boom, it happened and they saved my life,” Ty said.
Schoenwald says he has no hard feelings toward the PUD or the workers who thought the line was dead.
